Disposable apron

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to an economical disposable apron, preferably of paper, having integral sleeves and mittens to which are attached elastic loops which may be slipped over the wrists so as to adjust the mittens, as well as the length of the sleeves, to the sizes of the wearer. Shoulder extensions are provided for engaging the back of the shoulders of the wearer to provide a large frictional area of contact to keep the shoulder portions in place.

United States Patent 1191 111 3,727,236 Lloyd et al. 1451 Apr. 17, 1973 15 1 DISPOSABLE APRON I 3.0s9,143 5/1963 Jacobson ..2/1 Inventors: Kenneth F. y 3243 perkiomen; 3,156,927 11/1964 Grlmm et al ..2/1l4 X Michael Sink, FOREIGN PATENTS 0R APPLICATIONS Street, both of Reading, Pa. 335,317 9/1930 Great Britain ..2/51 [22] Filed: June 15, 1971 [21] A N 153,342 Primary Examiner-Alfred R. Guest Attorney-William J. Ruano [52] US. Cl ..2/51 5 [51] Int. Cl. ..A41b 13/04 7] ABSTRACT [58] Field of Search ..2/DIG. 7, l, 48, This invention relates to an economical disposable 2/51, 1 14 apron, preferably of paper, having integral sleeves and mittens to which are attached elastic loops which may [56] References Cited he slipped over the wrists so as to adjust the mittens, as well as the length of the sleeves, to the sizes of the UNITED STATES PATENTS wearer. Shoulder extensions are provided for engaging 1,285,917 11/1918 Bradley et a1 ..2/51 x the back of the shoulders of the wearer to provide a 1,413,569 4/ 1922 Bloch .,2/51 large frictional area of contact to keep the shoulder 2,030,091 2/1936 Behringer I ..2/1 14 portions in place. I

2,686,308 8/1954 Courtois ..2/l 3,047,875 8/1962 Patterson 1.2/1 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 2C\ 2 1 1 1 l 3 5 l I 4 1 I 1 6 1 6 1 l l l l /-I PATENTEDAFR 1 71913 INVENTOR Kenna! F Lloyd and MICHAEL s SIRAK TTORNEY DISPOSABLE APRON This invention relates to a disposable apron for wear over the clothes of the wearer to prevent soiling thereof.

In the past, aprons of various kinds have been devised for protecting the clothes of the wearer, but such aprons have been generally made of cloth, also they have been of such construction as to involve appreciable expense.

Moreover, such aprons have not provided complete protection for the arms and hands of the wearer nor have they been adjustable to different arm and hand sizes of wearers.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel apron which will overcome all the above disadvantages of conventionally used aprons and which will offer maximum protection against soiling of underclothing.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a disposable apron made of paper or similar throwaway material and having integral arms and mittens with elastic wrist bands attached thereto for enabling adjustment of the mittens and adjustment of the sleeve length to the wearer.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a throw-away or disposable apron having shoulder extensions of such construction as to assure the wearer against movement of the shoulder covering portions of the apron without attaching something around the neck.

Another object of the invention is to provide a disposable apron of paper or other inexpensive material which can be easily and quickly slipped over clothes of the wearer and adjusted in an exceedingly short time and which is of very simple construction and very inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages will become more apparent from a study of the following description, taken with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front, elevational view of a disposable apron embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear, elevational view of apron shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view showing the apron after it is slipped onto the wearer; and,

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the apron shown in FIG. 3.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing, which show a one piece disposable apron made of paper or similar throw-away material, numeral 1 denotes a front body portion made of one or two I pieces sewed along seam 1a, and numerals 2,2 denote bulged arm portions which are integral with mitten portions 3. Portions 2 and 3 are folded on edge 2a and seamed along edge 2b and edge 2c. Attached to the wrist portions of the mitten portions 3 are loops 4 of elastic material which are adapted to be stretched in diameter and slipped over the wrist portions of mittens 3 of the wearer, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. After the elastic loops are in place and tensioned as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the arm or sleeve portions 2 are pulled upwardly so that portions thereof below loops 4 will be moved above thereof until the wearers fingers touch the ends of the mittens, thereby adjusting the mittens to any size of hands of the wearer. In so doing, the sleeves 2 are adjusted to fit any sleeve length of the wearer since the shoulder portions will remain in place and for persons having shorter sleeve lengths, the arm portions 2 will be a little more baggy.

The shoulder portions are kept intact on the shoultiers of the wearer, particularly by means of the shoulder extensions 5,5 which extend from seam 2c to the portion well above the back of the wearer, as illustrated in FIG. 4, so as to provide a large area of frictional contact with the backs of the shoulders of the wearer. Integral straps 6 are attached to the shoulder extensions 5 and are crossed, as shown in FIG. 4, and finally tied in front, as shown in FIG. 3.

The open back and generous sleeve length prevent any hindrance to the wearers movement. The front shoulder seam serves as a point of attachment and acts as a hinge for the sleeves. The sleeve length and open back allows the sleeve and mitten combination to extend below the normal arm and hand length. The sleeve size is then adapted to the individual wearer by the specifically placed loops at the wrists of the sleeves. The elastic loop holds the sleeves above the wrist when pulled over the hand. The mechanical function of the loop is very important because it allows the long sleeve for both fit and mobility and also allows the open back, since no back seam is needed to size the sleeve length. Similarly, the loop makes the mitten fit. When the loop is pulled over the hand it pulls the mitten snugly around the hand, thereby affording dexterity adequate for almost any job. Any significant variation in placement of the loop from the wrist would result in diminished effectiveness. The size of the loop is dependent upon its elasticity of the material used in the loop.

The disposable apron will fit almost anyone without diminishing any of the abovementioned functions. The bib section and straps are made intentionally large to accommodate a large individual even with winter apparel on. This size presents no problem to smaller wearers, however. The proportions of the sleeve are kept very large from shoulder to elbow to allow winter garments and still provide mobility.

The open back allows the sleeves to extend or contract to the wearers dimensions and reach, but because of the loop the sleeves will never be too long and interfere with the critical hand area.

The entire apron, if desired, may be made of light reflective material, such as paper having an aluminum coating, or may be made of luminescent or phosphorecent material so as to be readily visible at night when the wearer is changing a tire on or near a roadway to insure that oncoming motorists will see and avoid him. Since the apron is rather large and covers most of the body it will be readily noticeable in the dark.

Another suitable material is that sold under theregistered trademark Tyvek" by E.I. Dupont De Nemours Corp., of Wilmington, DeL, which is a spunbonded olefin sheet product of percent high densi ty polyethylene fibers. Any other suitable, inexpensive disposable material may also be used instead.

Thus it will be seen that we have provided an efficient, relatively cheap, disposable apron that can be slipped on and off quickly and easily and which is of a construction that is inexpensive to manufacture; also, we have provided a disposable apron construction having integral sleeve and mittens with attached elastic wrist bands to readily adjust the mittens and the sleeve lengths to any hand or sleeve size of the wearer without sacrificing comfortable wear, freedom or dexterity of movement of the wearer while changing a tire or doing other work, also which provides complete protection against soiling of the sleeves of undergarments and of the hands.

While we have illustrated and described a single specific embodiment of our invention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustration only and that various changes and modifications may be contemplated within the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A disposable apron of paper for wear over the clothes of different sized wearers to prevent soiling thereof, comprising a main front panel, outwardly bulged arm portions integral with mitten portions, an endless elastic loop attached to each mitten portion ad jacent the wrist surrounding portion thereof for slipping over the wrists of the wearer to form an elastic sleeve to enable snug fit of the mittens, said apron having an open back and having integral shoulder extensions which cover substantial portions of the rear of the shoulders of the wearer, said shoulder extensions terminating in elongated straps extending integrally from said shoulder extensions for crossing the back of the wearer and for tying together at the front of the wearer to anchor one end of said bulged arm portions while said elastic loops anchor the other end to give substantial freedom and looseness in the arm portions and to take up unnecessary length of the arm portions so as to adjustably fit wearers of different arm lengths.

2. A disposable apron as rectified in claim 1 having a light reflective coating thereon so as to be visible at night.

3. A disposable apron as recited in claim 1 made of a spun-bonded olefin sheet product of high density polyethylene fibers.

4. A disposable apron as recited in claim 1 made of luminescent material. 

1. A disposable apron of paper for wear over the clothes of different sized wearers to prevent soiling thereof, comprising a main front panel, outwardly bulged arm portions integral with mitten portions, an endless elastic loop attached to each mitten portion adjacent the wrist surrounding portion thereof for slipping over the wrists of the wearer to form an elastic sleeve to enable snug fit of the mittens, said apron having an open back and having integral shoulder extensions which cover substantial portions of the rear of the shoulders of the wearer, said shoulder extensions terminating in elongated straps extending integrally from said shoulder extensions for crossing the back of the wearer and for tying together at the front of the wearer to anchor one end of said bulged arm portions while said elastic loops anchor the other end to give substantial freedom and looseness in the arm portions and to take up unnecessary length of the arm portions so as to adjustably fit wearers of different arm lengths.
 2. A disposable apron as rectified in claim 1 having a light reflective coating thereon so as to be visible at night.
 3. A disposable apron as recited in claim 1 made of a spun-bonded olefin sheet product of high density polyethylene fibers.
 4. A disposable apron as recited in claim 1 made of luminescent material. 